Public Safety and Elections Task Force

For model legislation crafted and adopted by the Public Safety and Elections Task Force, go here and here.

The Public Safety and Elections Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council was previously known as the "Criminal Justice & Homeland Security Task Force."

Subcommittees

 * Homeland Security Subcommittee
 * Pawn Shop Subcommittee
 * Sexual Predators Subcommittee
 * Elections and Ethics Subcommittee
 * Corrections and Reentry Subcommittee
 * Texas Criminal Justice Integrity Unit
 * Child Safety Subcommittee

Co-Chairs

 * Jerry Madden (R-TX), Politician Co-chair, American Legislative Exchange Council and head of the Corrections and Reentry Working Group.
 * Stacie Rumenap (President, Stop Child Predators ), Corporate Co-chair

Stop Child Predators is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to establishing penalty enhancements for those found guilty of committing sexual offenses against children; implementing an effective and efficient nationwide sex offender registry; and protecting the rights of crime victims. Rumenap, the President of the organization, previously "served as the Deputy Director for the American Conservative Union (ACU), the nation's oldest and largest conservative grassroots issue-advocacy organization, where she directed the ACU's annual Conservative Political Action Conference and served as one of the group's principle lobbyists. Rumenap has also served as the Executive Director for both U.S. Term Limits and the National Center for Growth. Rumenap currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the America's Future Foundation and the Safe Internet Alliance. She is a former board member of the Initiative and Referendum Institute and the Georgia State Society."


 * Tara Reilly-Mica (Lobbyist, National Rifle Association), Former Corporate Co-Chair in 2011

Corporate Executive Committee
(For-profit, Trade or Other Group)
 * Dennis Bartlett, American Bail Coalition

"Dennis Bartlett is the Executive Director of the American Bail Coalition. His career has included working for the Central Intelligence Agency and serving as deputy chief of INTERPOL Washington. . . He has been a member of ALEC since 1998 . . ." He has Masters degrees in International Relations from the University of Southern California and in philosophy from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California, as well as a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of San Francisco. He served as a Naval Reserve Intelligence Officer in the late 1960s.


 * Jon Burton, Reed Elsevier


 * David Christman, National Beer Wholesalers Association

"David Christman serves as the Director of State & Industry Affairs for the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) . . . In his current role at NBWA he serves as the association's primary liaison to national state legislative organizations. David also works with state beer associations and industry allies on pressing legal and legislative issues facing the beer industry in the states. . . . Previously, David served as the Manager of Grassroots and Political Affairs at NBWA. He was responsible for the day-to-day management of the National Beer Wholesalers Association Political Action Committee (NBWA PAC). . . Prior to joining the NBWA staff David worked on Capitol Hill for Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum."


 * Dawson Hobbs, Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America


 * Amanda Hydro, Citizens in Charge


 * Pat Nolan, Prison Fellowship Ministries

"Pat Nolan is the Vice President of Prison Fellowship, and leads Justice Fellowship, the criminal justice reform arm of Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries. . . .. He served for 15 years in the California State Assembly, four of those as the Assembly Republican Leader . . . Pat was one of the original sponsors of the Victims' Bill of Rights (Proposition 15) and was awarded the 'Victims Advocate Award' by Parents of Murdered Children. . . . Pat was targeted for prosecution for a campaign contribution he accepted which turned out to be part of an FBI sting. He pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering and served 29 months in a federal custody. He considered his prison time a 'monastic experience.' "

"Pat serves on the nine-member U.S. Prison Rape Elimination Commission, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. . . . Pat also serves on the National Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons, co-chaired by former Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and former Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, John Gibbons. Pat also served on Governor Schwarzenegger's 14-member Prison Rehabilitation Strike Team, established to completely revamp California's prison system.

"He earned both his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and his Juris Doctorate at the University of Southern California."


 * Barbara O'Brien, National Pawn Brokers Association

"Barbara began her professional career with the Florida State University Police Dept. as the first woman uniformed police officer in North Florida in 1974. In 1979, she took over as the law enforcement grants coordinator for the Dept. of Community Affairs.  From 1985-1986, she was selected as the law enforcement Fellow to the Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ).  From 1987-1997 she served as the Senior Executive Assistant to the Florida Attorney General and served in a number of positions including law enforcement liaison.  In 1997, she became the Director of Government Affairs for Cash America International.  Barbara has served on the Police Executive Research Group (PERF) Board of Directors, various committees of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and is co-founder of the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE).  She currently serves on the Board of the National Pawnbrokers Association (NPA).

"Barbara O'Brien has been a member of ALEC since 2006 and is on the Public Safety and Elections Task Force. She is also the Private Sector Chair of the Pawn Shop Subcommittee."


 * Sean Parnell, Center for Competitive Politics (president)

Sean Parnell is the co-chair of the Elections and Ethics Subcommittee. According to a July 2011 article he wrote criticizing Common Cause's letter requesting an IRS audit of the American Legislative Exchange Council to revoke its tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status, explaining the Center for Competitive Politics' (CCP) involvement in ALEC, "Although we don't really have an interest or take sides in most of what ALEC does, it is an opportunity for us to meet with and share our views on the First Amendment and campaign finance issues with state legislators from around the country who are mostly, but not always, sympathetic to our perspectives." He became president of CCP in 2007. Previously, he was vice president of external affairs at the Heartland Institute, primarily responsible for its fundraising activities. While at Heartland, he penned a report for the Texas Public Policy Foundation about "specialty hospitals" and "the business of health care" in which he argued that "robust competition predictably brings consumers more choices, lower costs, and improved quality."


 * Stacie Rumenap, Stop Child Predators

"Stacie Rumenap is the Executive Director of Stop Child Predators (SCP), a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that prevents the sexual exploitation of children and protects the rights of crime victims. Prior to joining SCP, Ms. Rumenap was the Deputy Director of the American Conservative Union (ACU), and American Conservative Union Foundation. . . Before joining ACU/ACUF, Ms. Rumenap was the Executive Director of U.S. Term Limits (USTL). Ms. Rumenap also served as the Executive Director for the National Center for Growth.

"Ms. Rumenap has been a member of ALEC since 2004 and is on the Public Safety and Elections Task Force. She is also the Private Sector Chair of the Sexual Predators Subcommittee.

"Ms. Rumenap holds a M.A. in Legislative Affairs from. . . George Washington University. . . She serves on the Board of Directors for America‚Äôs Future Foundation and is on the Advisory Board for OmniLink Systems, a cutting-edge technology company that manufactures GPS monitoring devices."


 * Laurie Shanblum, Corrections Corporation of America

"Laurie Shanblum is the Senior Director of Business Development for the Corrections Corporation of America. She became director [of] customer relations in early 2001. Ms. Shanblum has had a thirty-seven year career in juvenile and adult corrections and criminal justice, including both the public and private sectors.

"Ms. Shanblum has been a member of ALEC since 2003 and is currently on the Public Safety and Elections Task Force. She is also sits on the Homeland Security Subcommittee."

Politicians on the Executive Committee

 * Joe Driver (R-TX)

"Representative Joe Driver is currently serving his eighth term in the Texas House of Representatives. Presently in his third term as Chairman of the Law Enforcement committee, Rep. Driver formerly served two terms as Chairman of the Texas Constitutional Revision committee. He has been a Representative in the Texas House since 1993.

"Representative Driver is currently a member of the Garland, Rowlett, and Sachse Chambers of Commerce. . ..

"Rep. Driver has been a member of ALEC since 2001, and was the former Vice Chairman of the former Criminal Justice Task Force.  He currently sits on the Public Safety and Elections Task Force.

"Rep. Driver graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1971. In the private sector, Rep. Driver has been an agent for State Farm Insurance Companies for 35 years."


 * Margaret Flory (R-VT)

Margaret Flory represents Rutland in the Vermont State Senate. She was a Vermont State Representative from 1998 until her appointment to the State Senate in December 2009. She was at one point Minority Leader of the Vermont State House of Representatives.


 * Dan Greenberg (R-AK)

"Dan Greenberg represents legislative district 31 in the Arkansas General Assembly. His district includes portions of Pulaski County and Saline County.

"Greenberg received. . . a J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law. [He] was formerly an analyst for the conservative Heritage Foundation, a writer for the libertarian Cato Institute, and a teacher at the high school and college level in the fields of philosophy, political science, and computer programming. . ..

"As policy director for the former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, Greenberg was named to Arkansas Business "40 under 40" list of leaders in business and government. Besides his work as an attorney and state representative, he is senior editor of the academic journal Critical Review and an adjunct law professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's W.H. Bowen School of Law.

"Greenberg serves on the Education, State Agencies, and Legislative Audit committees. He is the vice-chairman of the Joint Performance Review Committee. He is a former teacher at the Arkansas Governor's School for the Gifted and Talented and a former member of the Pulaski County Quorum Court."


 * Jerry Madden (R-TX)

Rep. Jerry Madden has represented Texas' District 67 since 1993. "Madden worked 11 years for Texas Instruments Inc., 8 years for Teledyne Geotech, and in 2000 formed Jerry Madden Insurance to offer group health plan coverage options to small businesses out of his independent agency's Plano offices. In July of 2008, he sold his company and retired from the insurance business. He obtained a Master of Science in Management and Administration Sciences from the University of Texas at Dallas in 1979. . . . Madden is Chairman of the House Committee on Corrections, which he chaired from 2005-2009, as well as a member of the Select Committee on Election Contest, the Redistricting Committee, and the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee. Prior committee appointments have included Calendars, Public Education, House Select Committee on Public School Finance, State Affairs, Urban Affairs, Public Safety, Elections, State, Federal and International Relations, and Rules and Resolutions. . . . Rep. Madden. . . [is] a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of State Government's Justice Center. . . [and] Chairman of the Law and Criminal Justice Committee formed by the National Council of State Legislatures ([he] became Immediate Past Chair as of July 2010). . . . In June of 2010, Rep. Madden was appointed to serve on the Texas State Council for Interstate Adult Offender Supervision, and in July of 2010 was named co-chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures's Sentencing and Corrections Work Group."


 * Russell Pearce (R-AZ)

Sen. Pearce, the Arizona Senate President in 2011, co-authored Arizona's controversial SB1070 anti-immigrant law, which was drafted in part by the Federation for Immigration Reform. In February 2011, he introduced and sponsored SB1611, a new immigrant omnibus bill that "has raised new fears by immigrant rights advocates who claim it will further polarize the state and damage economic recovery." In 2006, he "sent an e-mail to supporters in which he copied an article from a White separatist group and a link to that group's Web site." He was also associated with and even endorsed National Socialist Movement (neo-Nazi) member J.T. Ready.

"Senator Pearce spent 23 years as Deputy Sherriff of Maricopa County. . . [He] received a B.A. in Management from the University of Phoenix and was enrolled at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, Motor Vehicle Legal and Law College, Advanced Executive Development, Arizona State University, Budget and Appropriations, University of Arizona, and Arizona Judicial College, Supreme Court of Arizona." American Legislative Exchange Council Public Sector Executive Committee, organizational website, accessed June 2, 2011


 * Bill Ruppel (R-IN)

"Representative Bill Ruppel has served as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives since 1992. During his tenure, he has served as the Vice Chair of the Safety Committee, and is currently the Ranking Minority Member of the House Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee. He also sits on Indiana's Counterterrorism and Security Council.

"Representative Ruppel has been a member of ALEC since 2004 and currently sits on the Public Safety and Elections Task Force. He is also a Public Sector Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee."
 * Scott Suder (R-WI)

"Suder is currently serving his 6th term as State Representative for Wisconsin's 69th Assembly District. [He] served as Co-Chairman of the Biofuels Study Committee. He is the former Chairman of the Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Committee and is a member of the Assembly Insurance, Fish and Wildlife and Personal Privacy Committees. Suder also serves as Chairman of the nationwide Homeland Security Task Force for the American Legislative Exchange Council based in Washington D.C.  As a member of the Rural Economic Development Board, Suder has helped award millions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans to small businesses in rural areas of the state. [He is] a member of Wisconsin's 115th Fighter Wing [of] the Wisconsin Air National Guard. . . Suder is currently serving on active duty as a member of the Wisconsin Air National Guard‚Äôs 115th Fighter Wing in his second and third tours of duty to the Middle East."<


 * Jordan Ulrey (R-NH)


 * Gene Whisnant (R-OR)

"Gene Whisnant (R-Sunriver) is serving his fourth term as State Representative for rural Deschutes County, House District 53. He was appointed first on September 5, 2003. Gene has served as the ALEC Oregon Public Chair since 2005. . ..

"He served on the important Ways and Means Committee and the Education and Public Safety subcommittees in the 2005 73rd Legislative Session and on the House Interim Education and Judiciary Committees. During the 72nd Legislative Session, Gene served on the House Interim Education and Judiciary Committees."

"Gene is a retired US Air Force Colonel.  He served in Vietnam, Germany, and Yugoslavia.  Also, he served in the Pentagon on the Air Staff and as a member of the Secretary of Defense staff. . . . [H]e earned a Master's degree from the University of Arkansas in International Affairs."

Corporate, Trade or Other Group Members

 * National Rifle Association (NRA)
 * Evergreen Freedom Foundation
 * Texas Public Policy Foundation
 * Prison Fellowship Ministries
 * Eli Lehrer (National Director, Center on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate, Heartland Institute), Advisor
 * Laura Renz (Research and Government Relations Director, Center for Competitive Politics)
 * Marc Levin, Director, Center for Effective Justice, Texas Public Policy Foundation)

Legislative Members

 * Sen. Jason Gant (R-SD)

Staff

 * Courtney O'Brien, Director and former Legislative Assistant
 * Michael Hough, former Director
 * Jonathan Moody (former Koch Associate), Policy Coordinator and Elections & Ethics Subcommittee Manager
 * Stephen Elzinga, Research Assistant